Proverbs 11:21 - Exposition

Though hand join in hand ( Proverbs 16:5 ); literally, hand to hand, which may be taken variously. The Septuagint and some other versions take the phrase in the sense of unjust violence: "He who layeth hand upon hand unjustly;" Vulgate, manus in manu, "hand in hand," which is as enigmatical as the Hebrew. Some Jewish interpreters consider it an adverbial expression, signifying simply "soon." Some moderns take it to mean "sooner or later," as the Italian da mano in mano , or, in succession of one generation after another (Gesenius, Wordsworth). Others deem it a form of adjuration, equivalent to "I hereby attest, my hand upon it!" And this seems the most probable interpretation; assuredly the Divine justice shall be satisfied by the punishment of the wicked (comp. Psalms 37:1-40 .). The Authorized Version gives a very good sense: "Though hands be plighted in faith, and men may associate together in evil, the wicked shall not go unpunished" (comp. Isaiah 28:15 ). St. Gregory ('Mor. in Job,' lib. 25.) takes a very different view: "Hand in hand the wicked shall not be innocent;" for hand is wont to he joined with hand when it rests at ease, and no laborious employment exercises it. As though he were saying, "Even when the hand rests from sinful deeds, yet the wicked, by reason of his thoughts, is not innocent" (Oxford transl.). This exposition is, of course, divorced from the context. The seed of the righteous. This is not "the posterity of the righteous," but is a periphrasis for "the righteous," as in Psalms 24:6 ; Psalms 112:2 , "the generation of the righteous" (comp. Isaiah 65:23 ). The climax which some see here—as if the author intended to say, "Not only the good themselves, but their descendants also shall be delivered"—is non-existent and unnecessary. Septuagint, "But he that soweth righteousness shall receive a sure reward," which is another rendering of the second member of verse 18. Shall be delivered ; i.e. in the time of God's wrath ( Psalms 112:4 , 23; Proverbs 2:22 ).